File 77 - Keje Selçuk and İsmet Asker

15 sub-files

Supplementary materials pertaining to the case filed by Keje Selçuk and İsmet Asker on 15 December 1993 against the Republic of Turkey with the European Commission of Human Rights (application numbers 23184/94 and 23185/94, later European Court of Human Rights case number 12/1997/796/998-999, referred to internally within the Kurdish Litigation Project as Cases 75 and 62 and assigned to Kevin Boyle and Françoise Hampson as leads, respectively) regarding the destruction of their homes and properties in İslamköy, Kulp District, Diyarbakır Province, by soldiers from Kulp under the command of the Kulp gendarmerie on 16 June 1993 and the subsequent burning of the mill co-owned by Keje Selçuk on 25 June 1993. Materials from the main casefile are located at A44/43/1/53.
The applicants stated that, some months earlier, the villagers had been warned by security forces that their houses would be destroyed if the villagers did not leave İslamköy, on the grounds that they were allegedly used by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party); the villagers subsequently came to believe that this threat had been retracted. The Commission’s findings of fact can be summarised as follows:
Early in the morning of 16 June 1993, a large force of gendarmes arrived in the village of İslamköy. A number of them, under the apparent command of Commanding Officer Recep Cömert, went to Mr Asker’s house. The house was set on fire, causing the destruction of the property and most of its contents. Mr and Mrs Asker ran inside the house in an attempt to save their possessions: this occurred either while the gendarmes were setting fire to the house by pouring petrol onto it, or just before; it was not established that the house was set on fire while the Askers were inside. Villagers came to see what was happening and were prevented from trying to put out the fire. A number of gendarmes, including CO Cömert, then proceeded to Mrs Selçuk’s house. Despite her protests, petrol was poured on her house, which was set on fire, by, or under the orders of, CO Cömert. Villagers, including two of those who gave evidence to the Commission’s delegates, were prevented from putting out the fire. Mrs Selçuk’s house and its contents were completely destroyed. Mr and Mrs Asker left the village briefly and returned about ten days later. Mrs Selçuk spent the night or several nights in the village and then left to stay in Diyarbakır with her daughter. On or about 26 June 1993, a force of gendarmes arrived in İslamköy; they were seen on the road nearby and in the village itself. The mill belonging to Mrs Selçuk and others, which stood on a creek in İslamköy, was set on fire and destroyed. CO Cömert was seen with the gendarmes at the mill when this occurred. Mr Asker complained about the destruction of his home to the District Governor in Kulp, presenting a petition. No steps were taken in response to this. Following these events, Mrs Selçuk and Mr and Mrs Asker moved to live permanently in Diyarbakır. İslamköy was abandoned completely by the end of 1994 due to increased PKK activity.
On 24 April 1998 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that there had been violations of Articles 3, 8, 13 and of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 of the European Convention of Human Rights (8 votes to 1) and no violations of Article 14 or 18 (unanimous). The Turkish Government was ordered to pay Keje Selçuk £17,760.32 sterling in pecuniary damages, İsmet Asker £22,408.48 in pecuniary damages, £10,000 to each applicant in non-pecuniary damages, and £18,011.64 sterling in legal fees and expenses (less 16,093 French francs awarded in legal aid). The full judgment is available for viewing at https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/?i=001-58162

Certain materials created by the European Commission of Human Rights and the Turkish Government, as well as excerpts from the verbatim record of the hearing of witnesses in the care, are closed to access until 1 November 2073.